Tales of the riverbank
by Thecakeisalie
Summary: Naruto Uzamaki and the strange group of people who seem to congregate around him show us that there is always more than one angle to any given scene. [AU]
1. Intro

About this fic

- Colaberation fic between 'Cultivateyourhunger' and 'Leafonthebreeze' (check out their/our profiles for our seperately written work, bar 'Learning curve' on my (Cultivate's) profile)

- Modern-day AU Naruto

- Set in London (we will give a crate of cookies to anyone who can tell us exactly where they are :P)

- After this chapter (the intro) all the chapters will be first-person perspectives of one character 'on' another (e.g. Ino talking about Sakura, Shikamaru talking about Choji)

- It won't be completely linear either, so expect timeskips between chapters/characters.

- Different chapters are written predominantly by each of us and beat-ed by the other (we will state who's done what - this is mostly Leaf)

So, now that's out of the way, we'll let you get on with it.

* * *

Walking along by the river just wouldn't be complete without the click-whirr of wheels on concrete. Most people walk straight past the skaters and their companions, occasionally pausing to stare at their 'weird' antics and even weirder uniforms before moving swiftly on. 

But if you were to stop and study them closely, you would see an interesting collection of young people, as opposed to a fondly named 'pack of freaks'.

Perhaps the first to catch your eye would be Uzumaki Naruto. Not because he is the most unusually dressed (far from it) but because he is the one with the most energy, running manically from one person to another in that characteristically loud and confident way. His penchant for day-glo orange helps too.

But if you look a little closer, you may detect his shadow, Hinata Hyuuga: the moon to his sun (or so she likes to believe in her most secret thoughts), hiding beneath her baggy clothes or standing alone in the shadows. She is one of the least noticeable of them all, so it's strange that she should set her sights on the brightest.

But we are here to see the skaters, because they are good at what they do and give us a cheap five-minute thrill of watching and imagining. Shikamaru Nara noisily grinds and ollies his way around the ramps, executing each perfect manoeuvre with an expression of such disinterest it's as though the board moves itself and he is merely along for the ride. That is, until he is distracted for a second by a piercing wolf whistle and comes crashing off the board.

The whistler, Temari, is one of the more 'interesting' dressers of the group: tartan skirts, safety pins and fishnet tights a staple wherever she goes. Shikamaru, dressed in his standard skater uniform of baggy cargoes and a layered top, pretends not to notice her jeering and brushes the concrete dust off his clothes.

But his unscheduled break lets the other skater shine through. Chouji has none of Shikamaru's grace, an inevitability considering he's a tad 'heavier' than most, but he bears a certain skill gained from using his board as a method of transport rather than something to show off with. His long scarf blows back as he weaves neatly between columns and lone pedestrians, perfecting his technique in relative safety, rather then on the public streets and roads: where a mistake may cost him his life, rather than his pride.

Of course, graffiti covers all the walls here, but these are works ofart – expressions of an individual's style, rather than your basic tags and scribbles.

But only one artist is at work today, his face obscured by a heavy trench coat and dark glasses, moving his sleeved arms in sweeping arcs and turns as he carves out the body of a giant ant trampling a stylised city. But he is careful not to cover any of the powerful, snarling fox close by his canvass; nine tails swirling and curling behind him in long licks of neon flame.

Shino has respect for Naruto's work.

A few people surround Shino, watching him work with varying degrees of interest. Rock Lee gasps in wonder as the creature evolves from a skeleton of outlines, praising his every move and jumping ecstatically whenever a new feature becomes recognisable. Kankaro, painted face partially hidden by a black, horned hood, watches Lee with a mild amusement.

Slightly less interested is the young man in a tight-fitting white t-shirt emblazoned with a neon slogan. His long black hair falls in a straggly mess about his shoulders, bleary eyes obscured by a huge pair of mirrored sunglasses. Standing beside him, casting worried glances every other minute, is Tenten. She sees Neji as her responsibility, and he is _clearly_ unsure of his surroundings (must have been 'out' last night).

Not far away, Ino Yamanaka twirls a strand of peroxide blonde hair between her fingers as she chats to Sakura Haruno. The two make an odd pair, as while Ino's look is highly styled, everything matching perfectly from her earrings to her belt, Sakura's seems far more thrown together; a strange mix of styles that seem to compete with each other rather than compliment. And her shocking pink hair only adds to the effect.

Sakura herself seems a little distracted, darting constant looks behind her as if she was being followed, before finally making an excuse and cutting Ino off mid-flow to edge her way over to the corner where Sasuke Uchiha sits, staring at the paving like it was the most interesting thing to him in the world.

She crouches beside him but gets no reaction, so arranges her skirt and sits next to him, apparently happy just to be near him. And now they are side by side it's clear where (or who) some of Sakura's fashion inspiration came from - like the checked wristband(s) they both wear and how Sasuke seems only to dress in black, with the very occasional flash of blood red.

All his clothes seem slightly too small for him, clinging to his meagre frame as he slumps over with a slightly glazed look in his eyes.

Ino is left at something of a loss with this abandonment, but soon turns and begins a conversation with the slightly less distracted Tenten. Uknowingly, she is watched by an unusually disgruntled looking Kiba, his Hawaiian shirt left unbuttoned to show his abs despite the bitter weather and his small mongrel dog laying lazily by his master's side. Round Kiba's neck hangs a tribute to the friendship between boy and dog, one of Akamaru's milk teeth, tied delicately to a leather cord.

But Kiba is not the only one who seems annoyed. Gaara Sabaku leans alone against a wall dressed rather frighteningly and glaring with a fierce anger at Sasuke. It is immediately apparent why the others are avoiding him; ripped black clothing, thick rings of kohl and huge spiked goth-boots all flash unmistakable 'stay away' sirens. And that scar on his forehead is even worse – the subject of much discussion when he is out of earshot, along with the rumour that he carries a switchblade at all times. In fact, there are many mysteries surrounding Gaara, the answers to which lie only with his siblings.

And they're not telling.

An empty clatter ripples through the group, and a spaced Neji jumps as if crashing back down to earth as a few people look over to where Shino dropped the empty spray-can, which rolls idly away and finds itself under the wheels of a certain skater's board, who - once again - goes crashing towards the pavement with a resonant grunt of, '_shit!_'

"_Smooth_, Shikamaru,"

"Shut up."

A mixed bunch of people; each with their own little drama, their own tale to tell.

But then again, everyone has problems.

* * *

Well, now the stage is set. These chapters won't be especially long, and updates should be quick as there's two of us working at the same time. 

So if you've a request for a character (from the above), leave a review and keep an eye out for your favorites :P

* * *


	2. Sasuke

First of what's going to be the format for the rest of this thing - accountable to Cultivate.

Naruto - Sasuke (although the way his mind wanders...)

Oh, and '-' means 'talking about', not 'pairing' pairings will come as and when they please.

* * *

It's a shame Sakura doesn't roller-blade any more.

Well, it's not like she stopped _completely_… she just doesn't seem to do it very much… or, _like_, as much as she used to.

Thing is it's how I first got to know her, y'see? 'Cause she used to skate up and down the riverside and round by the ramps and stuff, where Shikamaru hangs out.

Problem is, it all started to change one day when me 'n Sasuke were going down to the meeting place, so I could try out this awesome new spraypaint I got that morning.

Now, I _did_kinda drag Sasuke along that time, and he hadn't been down the bank before, but it doesn't exactly matter because he never wants to go _anywhere! _I swear sometimes he'd just lay in his roomall day staring at the ceiling if I wasn't there to get him up and out of bed!

Anyway! Where was I? Oh yeah, Sakura was skating up and down the riverside, and we were walking up past the street-performers (Rock Lee was out making some extra cash I think) and she whizzed by us and jumped_straight_ over the end of this bench! Totally scared the crap out of this tourist as well, it was _hilarious! _(Mind you even_I'd_ be scared if someone dressed like Sakura with this**really **crazy **pink **hair came flying at me on a pair of roller-blades.)

"Ohmygod Sakura!! **Wow!**" I yelled, about to run after her and say hi_properly_ when some _bastard _tripped me up.

"You sound completely pathetic." Sasuke told me as I rubbed the end of my nose from where I fell.

"Bla-bla-_blaaa_," I went in a stupid voice (which I knew pissed him off) "you complain about everything, Sasuke, so calling me pathetic doesn't actually make any difference… to anything… _ever_."

He glared at me or something and kept on walking, bad friend that he is…

I'm not even sure why I _call _him my friend, maybe it's just because Kakashi thinks we are and always forces us into friendship building exercises because of it… because, uh, what was it, 'friendships are an invaluable part of a developing teenager's life and are needed to shape a healthy and functional…' yada-yada-yada, emotional cripples need something-about-teamwork and Kakashi's usual boring rants.

I mean,_I've _been in homes all my life and _I _didn't turn out too bad, did I? I never even knewmy parents – they just dumped me on the doorstep of a shelter and took off without a word.

Fine, so maybe I wasn't a very 'well' behaved kid, but that's **not** the same as 'bad'… 'cause besides, it's only because all those families who tried to foster me treated me like an _add_-_on_: I was just this neat little bonus they got every week for looking after disadvantaged kids.

And anyway, the homes are the _only_ place anyone has ever acknowledged me, so _naturally_ I do everything I can to stay there.

And a _lot_of that 'everything' was loads of fun as well! Like spraypainting all those symbols on the walls in one of my foster-houses… or putting sugar in the saltcellars or turning all the furniture in a room upside down.

Heh, maybe I'm just a rebellious type.

Although, Sasuke would probably go all emo on me and be like 'you are _so_not a rebel…(looks at scars poignantly)' because, uh, well… he _is_ an emo?

Thing with Sasuke is he's only been in the institution a couple of years, before that I think he had one of those happy-family deals (I've seen some pictures) – but yeah, something happened with his older brother and then his dad and finally there was just his mum left and I think she was hospitalised or something… because she visits him from time to time, but they never talk about him leaving here or anything (and she just _looks _sick in general).

So I was saying, a couple of years ago this kid Sasuke Uchiha turns up in Kohona kids shelter like a dark raincloud – he _literally _sulked for about three weeks, Iruka had to go in once a day just to make sure he ate.

Personally I couldn't care less, well, actually, I _did_ care that Iruka was always going off and interrupting my counselling because the 'new kid' was breaking mirrors or beating up Konohamaru or something like that… I mean I had about five good sessions _ruined_ because of that brat Uchiha.

But before I go on I might as well add that I _like _counselling, because it's just you and them and they _do _actually care about you and what you have to say, and what you think about stuff/life/what's on TV, or even the stupid stories and jokes you heard at school

So, maybe it's 'cause I'm an orphan or something, but basically I like having 'chats with social workers. Because even if it's not someone safe like Iruka or Kakashi, it's someone _hilarious _like Gai who you can just _lead on _and tell the most ridiculous crap (I once convinced him that I wanted to be a woman, he even promised to contact a surgeon for me).

So… uh… oh right, Sasuke was stealing my counselling and I realized something had to be _done _– so I marched myself up to his room one day after Kakashi hadn't turned up in the morning (he's always late, but he hadn't turned up at _all _this time) and more-or-less kicked the door down.

"Kakashi!! You are supposed to be taking us to the climbing wall!!" I roared self-righteously, standing in the doorway as _my _lift sat with a hand on this sad little huddled-up-shape's shoulder.

"Naruto, now is not the time…" Special K said quietly, but I had had it _up to here _with this kid's crap.

"You're Sasuke, right?" I demanded. No reaction from the thing in the skinny Linkin Park t-shirt. "Great. I'm Naruto. I hate to break this up but Kopy-K here agreed to drive me and the Konohamaru corps to the climbing wall this'morning… so if you wouldn't mind telling him to piss off I've got the mini-bus hotwired and we're ready to go!"

"…Leave me alone," a frail voice was heard to say, but _honestly, _did this guy know _nothing _about the system?!

"You're not gonna achieve anything by saying _that!" _I told him, "that's just _screaming_'I-have-issues-that-I'm-pretending-I-don't-want-to-talk-about-but-actually-I-do, now, what you have to say is…"

"I wasn't talking to him." The mood announced all high-and-mighty, "I was talking to _you._"

I snorted, as at the time I hadn't yet realized Sasuke was, and always will be, an arrogant prick.

"Real nice," I spat, "I don't really want to talk to you either, but you're hogging my ride so _suck it up."_

"_Just go away…" _he muttered and did a little 'curling up into a ball thing' on the bed, and Kakashi started glaring at me.

"Oh what?!" I protested, "he's being pathetic… pathetic, pathetic, _emo!" _I got a real reaction this time, as newboy uncoiled far enough to look at me (with kinda freaky eyes) and spat.

"_What_did you call me?"

I grinned. "Emo!" I baited, "eeeemmmmoooooo"

"Naruto!" Kakashi said in his 'serious' voice, "that's enough."

"NO!" I cried, "_I've _had enough! He's been here almost a _month_and all he's done is mope! You know what, dude? You're in a freaking **home**! Guess what?! Everyone here has problems! We just get on with them and try to have a normal life instead of wasting away like some pathetic little…"

"I'll never have a normal life." Sasuke said, in a sudden bout of talkativeness, "not after…" he sorta trailed off in a 'I don't want to talk about me emo problems which are emo' so I just said.

"You're pathetic."

He scowled again, but then oddly enough broke into a bitter laugh, "you have no idea" he told me all self-assured… and it was at _about _this point that I lost my rag.

"I HAVE NO IDEA?!" I screamed all of a sudden, Kakashi no-doubt pinning this down as one of my rages (for which I'm mildly notorious) "DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!!"

I'll admit he seemed a bit spooked by this point, after all, I had just gone somewhat batshit, however this was not going to put me off.

"You think you are so hard-done by being sent here?!" I roared, "you think I don't have a clue about what you're going through?! Well! You're **right**!!" Aha, now he looked confused.

"I **do** have no idea! But do you know what I have no idea about?! Do you? No, of course you don't… you've been too busy in your own little world to notice anything around you. It's _family. Parents. A home that doesn't start with a capital H!"_

"You don't" he went to interrupt me, but I was too loud and quick for him.

"You think your case is worse than everyone else's?" I said sarcastically, "Why don't you ask Kakashi to take you down to the office and have a look at _my _file! Or anyone else's as a matter of fact! This is a _Home, _Sasuke! Everyone is fucked up! So **stop **the crap and _deal with it like the rest of us!!"_

"Deal with it!" he actually shouted back at me, even going as far as standing up and coming at me in a half-hearted way, "You make it sound soooo easy!"

"IT IS EASY!" I shot back at him, "What you do is get the hell out of bed, put some clothes on, sit your arse in the mini-bus and go_climbing_!!" however, something about the look on Kakashi's face and how I'm not technically supposed to be having these 'episodes' anymore made me think we _might_ not be going climbing after all…

"You know what, forget it, Kakashi, we'll take the bus…" I grumbled, not 'seeing red' (Kakashi-buzz-word) anymore but still feeling like I wanted to punch through a wall or something.

So I turned around and left, about to head over to my room and pick up some lighter fuel and a piece of rug, when someone suddenly stopped me.

"I'll be down in five, Naruto," Kakashi said to my _complete _surprise.

"Well… uh…I…yeh, um…okay?" I hoped he couldn't read the pyromania in my head (sometimes I swear he can) and continued to stutter, "can I…just, uh, ask… um, why are you?" K leant down and smiled at me.

"That is the most coherent thing Sasuke has said to anyone since he came here," he announced in the calm voice, "and as soon as you left he expressed a desire to… wait, what was it you said? _'get the hell out of bed, put some clothes on, sit his arse in the mini-bus to go climbing'_?"

(My thoughts at the time: uhhhh, what?)

"Seriously?" I gawped, wondering how going batshit on someone like him could actually motivate him to _do_ anything, when the emo himself walked by like he couldn't care less.

"I'll show you who's pathetic." He said icily, but I just shrugged and ran forwards to leap over the side of the stairwell down to the ground floor – we were going climbing after all, so I could _hardly_ complain about having someone to one-up and cut the ropes for.

Then when I got outside I found out _he _thought he was getting the passenger seat, and I was like 'uh, **what the hell!' **but he blanked me and turned the radio on so I started to…_Wait_… was this what I was supposed to be talking about?

I thought I… oh yeahhh, Sakura not roller-blading anymore…now the thing about that is…

What?! Out of space?! THAT'S COMPLETELY OUTRAGEOUS!! I CAN'T BELIEV

* * *

Oops.

Leave a review and perhaps Naruto will get a chance to finish what he was saying ;P


	3. Sakura

One of the things that drew me to Sakura in the first place, back in year 7, was her style. She always had her own way of dressing: slightly random, lots of pink, but it all kinda fitted… looked good on her, ya know? She dressed her own way and it suited her. And not _once _did she let anything anyone said get to her either. I really admired that in her: the 'I don't give a toss what anybody thinks' attitude.

Although, her biggest trademark was the pink hair, hanging all the way down her back, and she used to wear it differently every day – had a set of hair accessories to kill.

Now I've _always_ been into fashion, and I loved the way she mixed her styles, made herself unique. It's totally different from the way I dress; I'll admit I'm pretty label orientated (but I am NOT a chav! I don't care what Kiba or anyone else says). So anyway, because I've such a sharp eye for her I noticed _straight away_ when her look started to change.

First of all she wore a lot more black, and started restricting her rainbow styles to just red with the odd dash of her trademark pink here and there. I won't say I liked it all that much, but I knew why she was doing it… and in a way I could _sorta_ understand her reasons, well, more like _reason_.

Sasuke Uchiha – probably the hottest guy in our little gang of rejects (although not the most up himself by a _long _shot). And he's got his style – 'scene' if you like… bit of a poser, 'emo', call it whatever you want: he's pretty hot is all _I'll_ say on the matter. Now everyone's who hasn't been living under a rock has seen his look before: black-and-red clothes, skinny jeans, hair over one eye and a hint of eyeliner if he's not feeling too _apathetic _– he's pretty standard for the genre.

Thing was it looked a lot like Sakura was trying to go for that look, wait, strike that, Sakura _was _going for that look. So for a while I consoled myself with the fact that it was for a good cause (he _is _a good cause) and the fact that she couldn't quite bring herself to ditch the pink, or her taste for the crazier things – like that pink skirt that's got safety pins holding the _safety pins _together, or her zillion hairclips, rings and bracelets (half of which are nicked from Camden, but _hey_, her parents are hardly rich).

But _everyone_ has their breaking point, and mine was when she turns up at school one day with her hair cut off. Not entirely, that really _would _be crazy, but her once waist length hair now barely touched the tops of her shoulders. It wasn't a professional cut either, it was all rough and uneven like she'd done it herself or something – it looked _terrible_. And seeing that, well, I couldn't help myself.

"What happened to you" I said bluntly as she sat on the bench next to me.

"I …thought I'd change my style" she said, a tad too brightly. "Long hair is so difficult to look after and…"

"Did you cut it yourself or something?" I said, trying hard to keep my tone even,

"Well, yeah, I didn't want it to look to… _professional_ you know? I wanted it to look a bit rough round the edges."

"It looks crap" I snapped, unable to help myself because she looked so amazingly _pleased _about looking like _that_. She was a bit taken aback, we fight (_used _to fight) quite a lot, but only sort of girly bickering: I'd never come out and said something that nasty to her face before.

But honestly? She _deserved_it.

"Well, it's my hair Ino" she replied indignantly. "I should be allowed to do what I want with it. And besides, _Sasuke _cuts his own hair, and I've never heard you complain about how _he_ looks"

Well that was the last straw for me, because she _blatantly_ wasn't doing what _she_ wanted with it, she was doing what she thought _he_wanted her to do with it – and I hated it! Hated the way she was, and still _is…_ _degrading_ herself for him! She was _better_ then that damn it!

"Ok, _seriously_ Sakura!" I growled with a look I normally reserve for the terminally _lame_. "He's hot, but not _that_ hot" We were beginning to attract a bit of notice from the people around us, but hey, I'm not one to back down from an argument, (and I've always loved an audience)

She had the grace to blush bright red (as she should: she'd made herself look like a total idiot for him), but then anger suddenly flared up in her eyes.

"You- you're just jealous, because Sasuke would never like a _chav_ like you!" she spat triumphantly, a truly _pathetic _grin stretched across her face. There was a jeering "ooooh get _her" _from someone eavesdropping.

"I'm not the one _whoreing_ myself out to some guy who barely registers my existence" I pointed out flatly, causing several people around us to nod approvingly (nosey bastards, what's it got to do with them?).

"You just don't _understand _him" she shrieked. "He _needs_ me!"

"Sweetie, I think you'll find it's the other way round." I sneered. "_You _need _him, _I don't think he'd notice you if you stripped off in front of him; although you're practically doing that already. You spend more time with him then you do _me _these days,"

"Well, maybe I like being with him more then being with you! You're always so bossy and loud and annoying!" She looked like she was going to cry, and I had to look away because one tear from her and I'm always on with the waterworks myself.

"Well I'm glad you have the guts to speak your mind, Sakura – even if it is only to _me_. I hope you and prettyboy have fun cutting yourselves together." I snapped, momentarily not caring that I'd used that tramp Kiba's name for him. I pushed past the crowd of people around us and ran to my next lesson, trying furiously not to cry as I heard Sakura stifling a sob in her hands.

We haven't spoken since.


End file.
